The story was told how, a couple of decades ago, a company was looking to settle in the Anniston area. Representatives met with community leaders, everything seemed settled, but just before the papers were signed, a company official confessed that the product they made had PCBs as a byproduct.
To which one Annistonian replied, “We got nerve gas just west of here. We’re not scared of PCBs.”
The story may be apocryphal, but it makes the point that, having lived with stored chemical weapons so long, local folks hardly gave them a thought — until we set out to dispose of them. As plans for the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility went forward, the community debated whether it should be constructed, but the argument that the agents were more dangerous stockpiled than being destroyed prevailed. The incinerator was built and the burning began.
On Wednesday, the last load of sarin-filled projectiles is scheduled to be disposed of. These are the most dangerous weapons out there. Then the facility will be refitted to handle the next agents to be destroyed.
So far, the process has gone remarkably well, and we have every reason to believe that it will continue to do so. Soon it will all be over. The community will be safer. The county will be safer. The region will be safer.
And then we expect the government to keep its promise and dismantle the facility. That was the deal. The people of northeast Alabama expect and deserve no less.
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